Should Algae Terrariums and Electrolyzer be equal in the tech tree?

[WanderingKid]

So, yes, real world physics in a game but it would make a bit more sense intuitively, at least to me.  This is mostly driven by the utter shock when I realized just how horrible Algae terrariums are in water efficiency.

Currently, producing oxygen via Algae Terrariums is either 7.5(dark) - 6.81g (in light) water : 1g oxygen.  That ratio is horrid.  Plants are a lot closer to water neutral when exploring oxygen generation.  CO2 is actually used for creating their complex sugars, water is basically stripped of Hydrogens for some electrons and the H.  There are some extra oxygens from the sugars later, but let's ignore that, it's the water that's shocked me.  I poked around the web for something to help explain it more clearly and found this relatively quickly:

Quick overview: https://www.howplantswork.com/2009/02/16/plants-dont-convert-co2-into-o2/

Google: "Heavy oxygen (O¹⁸) as a tracer in the study of photosynthesis" if you're overly interested.   It's a curious little read, and is the reference at the bottom of the article.

Anyway, Algae should be roughly equivalent to electrolyzers for Water to O2 production at 1.12g water -> 1g Oxygen.  Now, should it be a lot more difficult to get to this place?  Sure, I'm okay with that.  Need lighting, plant needs CO2 to grow (+1: No more having to feed it more algae if it has it, it's growing), have to keep it watered, etc.  But if you're feeding some power to the lights, sunk them in a small lake, and they're sitting in a CO2 trap they should be producing more algae and otherwise never require duplicant involvement.

So, recoding the terrariums to drop algae and require growth from CO2 and the like is probably a bit overwhelming for a suggestion, but if they are changed to requiring light to work at all, pushed up the tech tree another level (or 2), and could be significantly lowered in their ratio of water to O2 , I believe that would be both a lot more intuitive as well as making their infrastructure investment much more valuable for long term play.  A ratio of 1.3:1 water:oxygen and not using up algae would be my initial thoughts.

Random Side Note: As they add in new biomes, It would make sense to add in some kind of salt for the electrolyzer to consume.  It doesn't absolutely need it, but it certainly speeds it along.  Add salt, 2x consumption/production?  Just a thought.  Anyways...

This does however remove relatively early game CO2 management and a step up from the Algae Deoxydizer, but I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing.  It has a 2:1 Algae:Oxygen ratio (bit power heavy but, hey, we're abusing physics here anyway), while the terrarium has a 3:4 Algae:Oxygen ratio and requires bucketloads of water instead of energy.  Energy is a lot more obvious of a resource to generate for a new player, and has the added benefit of not requiring digging out entire cold biomes or setting up massive purifier areas to replace!

So, I'm hoping some folks can help me refine this thinking into a workable suggestion, or set of suggestions, to give to the devs to help with both water management and expanding our base sustainability choices.  Fire away! 

*Runs for cover into the nearest bunker...*

[brummbar7]

I imagine the devs probably intend for terrariums to be very inefficient.  They're a low tech solution that does not require  power.  I doubt the devs are interested in moving them up the tech tree - I'm pretty sure they're primarily supposed to address the CO2 situation early on, when you don't have scrubbers.  I don't think their primary purpose has ever been oxygen.

[WanderingKid]

1 hour ago, brummbar7 said:

I imagine the devs probably intend for terrariums to be very inefficient.  They're a low tech solution that does not require  power.  I doubt the devs are interested in moving them up the tech tree - I'm pretty sure they're primarily supposed to address the CO2 situation early on, when you don't have scrubbers.  I don't think their primary purpose has ever been oxygen.

Hrm, if it's a mechanics component, then I feel it would be more intuitive to allow the dupes to build a molecular sieve of some kind, perhaps using some of the clay and/or sand and/or a new reasonably rare material (zeolite is what was used in the shuttle).  Its complexity is low enough that some DIY'ers here on Earth do it with kitty litter and a fan for their grow tents, though that's mostly for smell.   It wouldn't be meant for large scale removal like the scrubber is (such as cleaning out the coal generator room), but would be able to clean up the little bit of CO2 that the dupes tend to leave around.  Simply destroying the cleaning agent and the CO2 would be enough, I would think, to make a player want to upgrade but still have a choice if they need something quick and low-tech.

I mostly feel that way so it would remove confusion down the line for newer players who are (like I was) expecting one thing from the item, and its purpose is different mechanically so it's not obvious as to the cost of it.  Without a massive grow room (it takes, what, 6 trees/human being for O2 regeneration?  Something like that...) I don't think the terrariums should feed an entire base, but I can't help but feel they're not representative of their purpose if that's the expected use case.

For those who like random trivia in their knowledge, it's older but still fun: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/146558main_RecyclingEDA(final) 4_10_06.pdf